


Duty

by arienai



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-07
Updated: 2013-12-07
Packaged: 2018-01-03 21:36:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1073321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arienai/pseuds/arienai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fight is over, but Raidou's responsibilities are not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duty

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for Kinkfest on DW.

The first sense Raidou Kuzunoha had of the unfamiliar unease settled about him as he watched Narumi and Gouto piece together the final report on the Soulless Army case. It lingered about him like the detective's cologne; long after the man had left, long after he thought it gone, he would turn to glance at a passerby and there it would be on his collar.

"Won't do to have that." Narumi brushed the bird off, fussing over some line about his former involvement in the project. 

Gouto ducked under his arm. "Don't see why not." 

"Fella's gotta have his secrets!" The detective grabbed his hat and tried to shoo the crow away as he skipped past to the next line. "Can't have just any sap wandering in here and reading it, see. Right, Rai-"

Gouto slammed his talons down decisively on several keys at once, ruining the page. 

"-DOU! Control this mangy bird of yours!"

On any other day this would have set Raidou to hiding a grin; proper composure was important for a summoner, one must never show fear in the face of a demon, or he would never be its master. After all, it was only professional to pretend there was nothing funny at all about watching one's boss lose a shoving match to a house pet. Nothing indeed. Yet, today, there was nothing to hide. Instead he gazed distractedly out the window at the Capital's skyline as he stood, arms folded, noting how the recent destruction had changed it.

_"So blue..." Kaya had muttered softly to herself as they left the office that morning; awestruck and reverent and resentful in a way no one had the right to be: it was only the sky. The young summoner had found it curious. Gouto had warned him to watch for signs of possession--no telling if Munakata's ritual had dealt with that--and yet, the only conclusion he could come to was that he lacked the sensibility to appreciate a truly azure sky. Perhaps a sort of feminine refinement, a sensitivity to the seasons._

_After all, humans and demons alike, they all lived under the same sky._

Raidou Kuzunoha was unaccustomed to doubt.

* * *

A leisurely walk in fine company should be just the ticket to withdraw from the slow twisting just below his ribcage, a stroll by the riverside with Rin and Kaya at each arm. He'd noted with no small satisfaction Narumi's jealous glare when the two girls had their backs safely turned. Well, it served him: if Raidou was to do all the leg work, he was entitled to all the fine dolls that went with it.

"Hmm... a new dessert parlor's just opened up in Ginza, I hear." No doubt Rin thought the summoner didn't notice as she cast furtive glances at her friend, brow creased with worry. Had Kaya been acting oddly since her return? Raidou couldn't say--he hardly knew her. "But, it couldn't be better than Fujiko, right Kaya?"

The other girl nodded distractedly, tugging at her cropped hair. They'd taken her to get it evened out and now it wasn't quite so messy, but it was even shorter than before. Far from admiring the long, flowing locks that had so elegantly defied the modern trend, onlookers spoke in hushed awe at her boldness. Surely, they whispered, she must be modern girl with plans of college and a career after, a real firebrand--what must her parents think?

Kaya flinched from every hushed word, hands clasped tightly against the unfamiliar sensation of the breeze on the back of her neck.

_Kaya strode forward purposefully across the bridge into Fukagawa, her shoes tapping sharply against the aging wood. Raidou was taken aback at how sheltered she must be not to notice the kind of unsavory establishment they were headed to; yet, as they drew close enough that the colourful tattoos on the bare chests and arms of Satake's boys were unmistakeable, her expression did not falter._

_She chewed her lip, taking in the whole of the district with its ancient marketplace and row upon row of ramshackle huts in one glance; eyes considering, but hard. Raidou cocked his head; it seemed she had something to say._

_"This place looks much the same as it would have in the Edo period." Her tone was unyielding. "Failure to embrace change makes one soon obsolete. Refusal to change only hardens the necessity of it in the minds of those who wish for it, having the opposite of the desired effect... And yet, those who embrace change for its own sake, without regard for efficacy or the end result--they too are doomed to failure."_

_Raidou had never heard a girl speak so strongly, in such absolutes, about anything other than fashion or sweets. But spirits paid no attention to the endless toiling of mortals, either--he wondered if she would mention anything like it later, or be embarrassed about it._

_As it turned out, she had much to say, and a mind to say it._

Kaya, on the other hand, had neither. Her eyes were downcast, her gait delicate and uncertain and utterly proper. 

* * *

That feeling had worked its way into his hands by evening, as he practiced at the shrine as the dying light filtered through the leaves, spoiling his technique. Gouto noticed, too, from his perch above the gate, and refused to call it a day. At length he tossed his practice blade aside to clatter woodenly across the stones, hoping live steel would inspire him. 

A line of crimson ran the length of the blade, cast by the fading sun. Raidou focused on the point of brilliant red at the tip, forcing himself to breathe evenly. Breathe, and _focus_ \--

_Her stance was different from his own, but her strikes were not. Hilt held high above her head, it meant she had no doubt she was superior in speed and would not leave herself open, and that when she swung downward, from the shoulder, it would be impossible to block safely._

_When she did swing, though, in broad, powerful strokes and fierce lunges, to tell him who she was had been rendered needless. Kaya's attacks were the mirror image of Raidou's own._

_Raidou the Fortieth was trained in the same style Kuzunoha summoners who took up the blade had been for a thousand years, and he--or she--was Raidou the Fourteenth's better. And it stung him, forced him to swallow past wounded pride to summon the ally he needed and so doing admit that without it, he would lose._

_That she praised him for winning in such a way stung even worse._

Unconsciously, Raidou raised his own sword, hilt over his shoulder. He understood now: with Kaya's tiny frame, this was the only way to deliver blows that would be able to match his own. With the blade tilted so any deflected strike would arc toward the ground, leaving his opponent wide open instead of able to quickly withdraw. Yes, he could see it now--and then he'd bring one wrist atop the other for a wide and lethal blow.

One that overbalanced him badly and made him stumble on the stones of the shrine.

Gouto cawed in dismay. "Get your head together, kid." He stretched his wings before he took to flight, still shaking his head. "And don't come back before you do."

Raidou heaved a sigh as he watched his mentor go, sailing through the air away from the sun. The air cooled against his sweat-slicked skin as the light faded; he sheathed his sword briskly and snapped his cape about his shoulders, wondering how much the bird--and the summoner inside--understood.

He must understand, Raidou decided. He was always watching over him, guiding him, teaching him--if not always kindly--to learn from his mistakes.

And ultimately, making sacrifices to ensure his line continued.

* * *

It had turned into a dull ache that made him restless by nightfall, tossing and turning so much that the summoner dutifully decided to leave the detective's bed and take to his own, lest he keep the man up too late to rise at his usual noonhour. Every time Raidou's eyes drifted shut they seemed to snap open again only moments later.

_Trained to wake at the slightest noise, the soft padding of Kaya's feet on the chill floorboards was enough to rouse Raidou from his sleep. It sounded like she was pacing. Or perhaps she was cold or needed a blanket; Raidou had been raised with manners enough to rise and fetch an extra blanket, announcing himself at the door before he entered._

_Improper enough that she was living alone with two men, no matter how hard Narumi might protest the practicality of the arrangement._

_But she was still lying down, her blanket twined around her in disarray on the detective's bed--if he was to be gone all night it should be put to good use--the toes of her bare feet curled. She gazed up at him, red-faced and breathless, as long moments passed, with a look Raidou'd never seen before and couldn't put a name to._

_That is, until she grabbed him by the collar of his yukata and yanked him down with her, all soft strong hands and burning lips on his chest. It took him longer than he'd care to say to realize that he couldn't escape if he'd wanted to: she had him pinned, and helpless, and oh the way her white legs twined with his to manage it he wouldn't change it for the world._

Raidou tossed off his damp, useless sheets digustedly and went to dress. Narumi and Gouto were going to think him mad.

* * *

The boy was halfway to the station by the time the crow caught up with him, amatsu kanagi tucked carefully inside his cape. Dawn threatened to break across the horizon; the first train of the day would be leaving soon and it was clear by Raidou's pace that he meant to catch it. 

Gouto settled on his shoulder; the summoner did not slow with the added weight. "Finally found your wits and run off on that piker, have you?"

Raidou shot him a withering look.

"Then you oughta' be back in bed, oughtn't you?" Gouto eyed him watchfully, yet there was less reproach in his voice than the summoner expected.

"There's something I left unfinished." Raidou answered decisively. 

His mentor merely nodded, pleased. "So there is."


End file.
